Woot woot! I'm 2 today!I actually thought I was 3 but I guess that's what happens when you get older, you forget how old you actually are.

Here's to two more (times 10) years of bullying my friends and family into blogging. This time next year we won't be in Rexburg - actually, this time in 2 months we won't be here but we don't talk about that. I look forward to blogging about the rest of our lives in the places we live and when we start expanding our family and such. I thoroughly enjoy sharing our adventures with everyone.

It's exciting to me to have the last 2 years recorded on here with pictures. I only wish I'd started sooner.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

On Tuesday I thought it was Monday and on Wednesday - which happens to be yesterday - I thought it was Friday and then today is actually Thursday but it feels like Friday again.

I don't know if I've ever blogged about this before but recently I've been hearing words that don't mean what I was taught they meant. I was talking about it last night with a friend from Canada and she was telling me how there's words she's used to that aren't the same here either or they don't even exist. I find it fascinating and bizarre. Although, it's not exactly news to me because even in Scotland words vary from region to region and for how small Scotland is there's an immense amount of variations. America is a lot bigger than Scotland.

Aaaanyway, here's some words for you - just basic words, not accents or dialects.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

So, on Sunday I gave my first ever lesson in Relief Society. I was pretty excited about it because of the topic I was given. I thought I'd post my lesson plan here for anyone who missed the awesomeness - sadly you've missed out on all the excellent comments and discussion.

There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way.

He is:Quote 1 – 5

1.He said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall…”

2.He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on meshall never thirst.”

3.He said, “I am the light of the world…”

4.He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life…”

5.He is the Savior of the world.

He is preparing the way for us by being each of these things.

If we accept these things how are we being fulfilled?

DODrink, thirst no more, everlasting life Eat, hunger no more Follow and see clearly Learn and live Accept blessingsAtonementBe clean and pureBe worthy of the Holy Ghost

What if we don’t accept?

DO NOTbe foolishly thirstyNo everlasting life be weak and hungry be blind and lost in darkness remain dead and unfulfilledbe foolish, alone and filthy

Quote 6:“There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is foolishness.”

We each have our own trials. We sometimes feel isolated and that no-one can possibly relate to us. It isn’t true. We can argue that until you’re blue in the face because none of us can prove we’ve ever felt exactly the same as someone else BUT…

Quote 7:“The Lord’s way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel. “There is an opposition in all things,”everywhere, for everyone. Life is hard for all of us, but life is also simple. We have only two choices.We can either follow the Lord and be endowed with His power and have peace, light, strength, knowledge, confidence, love, and joy, or we can go some other way, any other way, whatever other way, and go it alone—without His support, without His power, without guidance, in darkness, turmoil, doubt, grief, and despair. And I ask, which way is easier?”

Which is easier?

Our faith is always tried. Next time it’s particularly difficult think of this:

Quote 8:He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and you will make it.

There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way is foolishness.

Only God can provide us with what we really need. What do we need?

Only God Can:sustain uscause our hearts to beatgive us breathpreserve & protect usgive us strength to bear burdensgive us power,knowledge,peace,joyForgive our sinsHeal usChange us for goodForge a Godly soulBring us back to Him

What do we need to do to ensure we have these things?Quote 9:“We will “take upon [us] the name of [the] Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given [us]; that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us].”Everything depends on that.”

Quote 10:“We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,and in all places" as we strive to livethe Young Women values, which are:FaithDivine NatureIndividual WorthKnowledgeChoice and AccountabilityGood WorksIntegrity andVirtue.We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants,receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.”

(I never got to share this next quote but I love it.)

One of the most popular and attractive philosophies of men is to live life your own way, do your own thing, be yourself, don’t let others tell you what to do. But the Lord said, “I am the way.” He said, “Follow me.”He said, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”

Don’t think you can’t. We might think we can’t really follow Him because the standard of His life is so astonishingly high as to seem unreachable. We might think it is too hard, too high, too much, beyond our capacity, at least for now. Don’t ever believe that. While the standard of the Lord is the highest, don’t ever think it is only reachable by a select few who are most able.

In this singular instance life’s experience misleads us. In life we learn that the highest achievements in any human endeavor are always the most difficult and, therefore, achievable only by a select few who are most able. The higher the standard, the fewer can reach it.

But that is not the case here because, unlike every other experience in this life, this is not a human endeavor. It is, rather, the work of God. It is God’s work and it is His “glory … to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”There is nothing else like it. Not anywhere. Not ever.

No institution, plan, program, or system ever conceived by men has access to the redeeming and transforming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, while the Lord’s invitation to follow Him is the highest of all, it is also achievable by everyone, not because we are able, but because He is, and because He can make us able too. “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind [everyone, living and dead] may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

Saturday, February 21, 2009

-Stuart got his grad report and we're set for April if he passes the classes he's taking this semester.

-I confirmed that we're ending our housing contract in April. That was quite final. It hit a nerve.

-My mum bought a camera today and I set up a blog for her to share pictures and such with us. I'm extremely excited about this!

-Facebook. I love it. I love that cousins I have seen or heard from in years are on there.

-I love that when I hold a camera it feels so natural. I love that I've been able to make friends through having pictures taken. I love that it's a passion I share with my mum -just another reason why she's a soul mate.

-I like how a simple thing like taking fun pictures of a person brings out a whole new side to the individual and looking at the pictures re-ignites those good feelings.

-I love having so many 'sisters' around me right now and that we all have atleast one thing in common to make us friends.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Stuart and I have a new baby. It's a Nikon D40 and he's adorable! I've decided to go right ahead and be a photographer. I'm working on my skills right now and trying to gain the confidence I need to be able to take responsibility for taking pictures of people. It's a big responsibility! Luckily I have a great friend who's helping me and who has mad photography skills!

I'm also going full steam ahead with the gypsy feet project and I'm loving being part of a dependable, creative team who work well together even though they've never met. I love that!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

We know it's quite short notice but we'd love to have a Valentines Social this Thursday! We're going to be making Valentines Cards and hanging out. If you could/would love to make a treat to bring along we'd love you forever and ever if you did!

Feel free to come dressed in your best Love Heart Red clothes or dress up as Cupid :)

Please pass this along so we can have a super duper turn out for the activity.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

My mum just phoned me. I love it when she does. We chatted about this and that - literally about this. This blog and how I cheer her up with my funny story of Stuart's jump drive.

I like to hear that I cheer people up but I also like to hear about how funny I am. Is that pride? It feels like it might be. The truth is that sometimes I'm typing out real life stories of myself and I'm laughing really hard. I find myself to be really funny and try to paint the most vivid picture of the hilarity as possible. I find myself hoping for something embarrassing to happen to me so I can write and laugh about it. I don't even find embarrassing things to be embarrassing anymore. I first realised that when I was saying that prayer at Beki's wedding. I knew I should be embarrassed but it was hilarious! Did I even tell that story in detail on here? Probably not, I was trying to keep Beki from hating me for it.

I want to have more funny stories than sad stories to tell people. I want to make the painful stories funny because pain can last much longer than it should if you don't find something funny about it and really, when you get hurt physically it's usually caused by some sort of stupidity, right? I want to focus more on the stupidity than the actual pain but miming out the actual pain can be so funny too... That's how I tell my stories atleast. Facial expressions and flailing hands.

I think that's where my spice comes from. Being able to laugh at myself and at other people,

"Sure it must have hurt like hell but did you see how your legs buckled right under you as you skited down the path?! I couldn't have done that if I'd tried!" *high 5*

I think my mum is the one who taught me to laugh at myself because whenever I'd get hurt she'd laugh but not all the time (I can practically hear you denying that right now mum!).

The time I'm thinking about was one night we decided to go down to the Spar (convenience store usually plonked in the middle of a neighbourhood) for whatever reason. I don't remember doing that any other time. Anyway, it was dark and cold outside. As we were going down the cycle path (no, not that one) and mum spots a random patch of ice under a street lamp which we're aproaching. To be honest it looked like someone had poured water out to make it into ice. My guess is it was the gang of hoolies sitting on the wall right across from it with the empty bucket. Just a guess though.

I'm walking to the outside of it to protect my poor, old, delicate mother of course. I step on the ice and take a step but not really because I might have actually been having a cartoon run at that moment. My feet were moving but I was going nowhere, you know the kind. I drop like a ton of bricks. The spotlight is on me, the one flopping about on the ground like a fish. And it was actually a spotlight, that wasn't for dramatic effect, I was right under a street light. I look up at my mum expecting to see her hand out reached to me but no, she's doubled over laughing. Ruuuude! I stand up and try to take a step and clatter to the ground again. Everyone enjoying the show, my mum *really* enjoying it. Still no hand. I try again and fall again. Then finally upsadaisy! and we walk away. My mum weeping with laughter and me with a chipped bone in my nosepicking finger on my left hand.

We walked the back way home.

But it's ok that she found it hilarious because I laughed at her the two times she sprayed Deep Heat under her arms instead of deodorant AND lets not forget the good old story of Hickie Lips!

Hickie Lips... now there's a cracker!

Once upon a time there was a Queen who doted -and still does given the chance- on her little Prince. The little Prince was only one year old at the time and already had everyone under his spell. Especially his grandparents, the King and Queen.

On this particular evening the Queen had fed him a delicious little pot of yoghurt and was now entertaining the little man by ever so gracefully sucking the empty yoghurt vessel to her face. Hilarity was had all round by young and old alike. It only grew funnier as the little Prince would enter a war with is grandmother as he tried to pull the pot from her face as she sucked it harder to prevent removal. The game lasted a while until the Queen had to remove herself to prepare for another engagement she had that night.

As she entered the lavatory she let out a yelp catching a glimpse at herself in the mirror. Her royal highness had been having such a royal hoot with the little man that she had forgotten the science behind the game. The removal of the sucked on cup had left her with two ginormously bruised lips and some very entertained family members - and stake members too.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I've been pitying the loss of the spice in others and didn't really notice I was losing it myself. I knew something was different - you did too if you read those depressing posts recently. You can admit it, don;t be scared.

I got up this morning and started falling into my normal routine. That's a lie. I was going to go back to bed. That's pretty bad. Anyway, I got up to go wee and then stumbled into the room with the computer to check my email when I got distracted - it happens a lot these days - and got to my google reader. I read about someone winning something or another, a recipe that looked pretty good, homemade cleaning supplies I'd like to try... and then I got to the last one. A blog of someone I've never met. Someone that I don't even share an aquaintance with but a lot of us have been following her blog and praying for her and her family. CJanerun.

She linked to this and it got me thinking. The spice is leaving me. I'm going to get it back. Today!